I posted this in Study Abdoad, but got no replies so I thought I would try here.
My daughter is headed to Madrid this fall for a semester. I would like to send her with only two large suitcases. She will be living in a furnished apartment with roommates. What should she leave home entirely? How about things to buy locally in Madrid?
I’m also curious about what others have done about a mobile phone? I anticipate that it would primarily be used for intracountry calls versus calls home? is it better to rent a phone once she gets there or add international calling to her current phone which is on Verizon Wireless?
I recommend packing as little as possible. Have her take two large suitcases but not pack them to the weight limit. That way, she’ll have room for things she buys while in Spain and wants to bring home. Look online or in a travel guide for average temperatures in Madrid and have your daughter pick clothing accordingly. Pack a simple first aid kit. If your daughter takes any medications (prescription or OTC) regularly, purchase enough for the entire time she’ll be gone. It might be a good idea to get a letter from her physician documenting the prescription meds, if any.
My daughters did study abroad programs in Ghana and Vietnam. In both cases, the students in their programs went shopping as a group the first day to buy cheap phones. They used them to call home a few times but I think they mostly communicated with me via email, Facebook, and blog posts. And even those communications were infrequent.
Even two large suitcases might be too much. She basically just needs clothes, a couple pairs of shoes, and any prescription medication she might use, things like contact lenses or glasses, a laptop.
When my kids travel, they prefer using a backpack. If she doesn’t want to use one as luggage, bring a small one or at least a large tote that can be used for weekend trips.
You can buy pretty much anything you need while abroad, toiletries, even first aid stuff.
My kids just use disposable, “burner” type phones while abroad. They are cheap. To communicate with us at home, we skyped and just messaged via facebook and email. They brought their iphones and just used the wifi and used them as their camera as well. They didn’t get an international plan.
Bring 2 credit cards. It’s good to have a back up one in case one gets lost or compromised.
I agree with doschicos: two large suitcases sounds like a lot, particularly since she’s not going to a place where bulky winter clothes are required. Don’t forget, closets are a lot smaller in Europe! I’d recommend only bringing a generous amount of underwear & socks, since doing laundry in Europe can be more onerous, and you want to have fresh underwear & socks!
My daughter went on a 9-month study abroad and brought one large dufflebag, plus a daypack. It totally sufficed, although she did buy an additional duffel for the trip back: yes, you buy stuff over there, which is another reason you don’t need to bring a ton with you.
Check out whatsapp for free calls. It’s what a lot of Europeans use, in addition to Skype.
Packing: the less, the better. My daughter has traveled and spent extensive time abroad many times, starting in high school. And bottom line-- anything that can’t easily be carried all at once is too much. So at most, a medium rollerboard type suitcase and a backpack – ideally even less than that.
She can get international phone plan from Verizon (not sure how pricey when done monthly, on a daily basis it is $10 a day so that doesn’t make sense for 4 months), or just get a sim card there from a Vodaphone store (like Starbucks there, on every corner). for data and calls on that continent. 20 Euros for 5G of high speed (good) data and you can re–charge online if you use it up. For calls back home she should just use What’s App. We have done the Onesimcard.com so she had a sim card that worked when she arrived (you get it sent to you here and she pus in their phone as soon as she lands). That would give her instant data access which mine needed cause they had to immediately train it across Europe to Italy, but for the long tern it is not cost effective and the data is slower than using the 4G widely available there when you get a Vodaphone sim card or have a Verizon International plan. Sim cards are also available at the airport, but are cheaper at a Vodaphone store with more options for data. You should also ask her to enable Find Friends on her phone and accept you as friend. It can be fun to see where they are - sorta double edge sword - cause while it is fun to follow them along, when their location is unavailable it makes you wonder what is up…but they are just somewhere without coverage of any kind.
Suggestion would be to pack light, my D was just in Italy for over 2 months and took one large bag and an empty duffle smashed inside to bring home stuff she accumulated while there, and to use for day trips while there. She spent last summer in Netherlands and had taken 2 bags and decided she had brought way too much stuff to deal with, so committed to just one bag this time (with the backpack of course). They can get anything they have to have, it’s not like she is going to the remote jungle. She can get toiletries there, just take some small or hotel size to get started for the first few days. The one thing a little different that we send is a filled prescription of antibiotics to have just incase - at least for the one with the history of bronchitis/pneumonia. Bring power converters, we found it worthwhile to just amazon a small hair dryer with both US and European connectivity, so she did bring that. Don’t bring too many bulky clothes like sweatshirts, it is fun to get one there if needed. Just one jacket if possible. Shoes is the other thing to really plan since they take so much room in a bag. If I think of other things will come back and post. What a great experience this will be for her!
My daughter did a semester in Australia last year. She took 1 large duffle, one carryon, and a backpack. The dorm provided bedding. She basically just took clothes and enough toiletries to get through the first few days or so (complicated by us doing a family trip through Hong Kong and Bali together and then dropping her off at her Grandma’s place in a different Australian city on the way over so it wasn’t just directly there). She bought the one formal dress she needed for a party at the end of the semester there (we knew about it ahead of time but she decided to buy something there). I think she got by on maybe 3 pairs of shoes.
For the phone, we had her iPhone unlocked before we left and got her an Australian sim card with the cheapest plan we could find. She used that to make calls and texts within Australia. To contact people back home she either used Facebook messenger or WhatsApp over WiFi.
My DD did a summer semester in France, and a fall semester in Singapore. Both times she simply bought a local sim card for her iphone. When she was in southeast Asia, she visited numerous countries and bought sim cards at each place; she would text “this is me” and I would save the new number until the next time. Quite common and very simple overseas.
D2 took an old iphone with her and bought a local sim card when she studied abroad in London. It let her call home and all over Europe. We didn’t want to unlock her good iphone.
D2 took 2+ suitcases with her. We bought most of her dorm stuff after we arrived and she left most of it behind when she came home.
My daughter studied abroad, first doing a fellowship in England for a summer, and then going directly to France, where she studied for the academic year, and then worked for 2 months.
She brought with her one giant suitcase and a carry-on bag. Her situation in England required her to buy dishes, sheets, and towels (sold in inexpensive kits), which she left behind when she went to France. In France she lived with a family so she didn’t need anything other than what she had brought with her.
But of course, she shopped. She mailed her heavy items home. When she finished her job, she flew back to England where I met her with a less than half full suitcase to haul the extra stuff she had bought home!
I think a local SIM card works much better than a Verizon or ATT international plan because she’ll want to talk and text with kids she meets there and make calls to local places. When she calls you she can use FaceTime/Skype/WhatsApp for free.
She should have an ATM card (and don’t forget to tell the bank her travel plans) on an account where you are the joint owner, so you can easily deposit money into the account and she can withdraw money in Euros.
Agree about the 1 suitcase and 1 backpack but pack in it a fold-up duffle bag in case she buys souvenirs etc.
Pack Benadryl (in case of an allergic reaction to anything), ibuprofen and pepto-bismol chewables as part of her medicine kit. It’s so much easier when you’re sick to deal with the name brands you know and like.
Make sure she’s covered with medical insurance. And make sure you have a copy of her passport and whatever credit cards or other important documents she’s taking with her, just in case they get stolen. Make sure you have a power of attorney for her so you can take care of anything she needs you to take care of while she’s away.
You can check online for different sim cards available in Madrid. I was able to get one online for D1 for around $20 a month. It allowed her to call US, unlimited data and calls around Europe. It was few years back. They probably have better deals now.
D2’s school in London required her to have insurance through the school.
I didn’t open a local bank account for her. She was able to get money out of her US acct via ATM, and she had my credit cards for purchases.
Thanks everyone for the input. I will look into the SIM card option and definitely plan to use apps for video and audio calls. We will see how the packing of clothes goes. She is really into her clothes and shoes!
My daughter took too much to England, but the one thing that was indispensable was a raincoat. It was sort of a hiking jacket like you could get at LL Bean or Lands End(but it was a Marmot so very expensive if new). It was slightly big so would fit over a sweatshirt or sweater. She wore it almost every day. I paid the full $8 for it at the thrift store, not waiting for it to go to half price on Saturday. I think she could have used better shoes as she walked everywhere.
She had her ATM card and one credit card. They’d suggested she have a visa card that we’d load money on (to use as an ATM) but it became complicated so we just skipped it. It was fine. Only one time did her ATM card not work (to buy a Chunnel ticket to France) so she used the credit card.
@doschicos Exactly, there are some things we shouldn’t see! But then again, mine isn’t a big clubbing type, and I loved knowing she was in bed at the hotel or wherever she was staying. But part of the condition of letting her travel throughout Europe at 18 and solo (after senior year of hs) was that she enable me on Find Friends. The minute she was off the plane back home I was cut off. lol. I have friends who have followed their kids from middle school to adulthood on FF, it’s a bit creepy. Mine would have never put up with that. But if I am footing the bill for international study and travel, FF is on. My hubby is not Liam Neeson.
She can pack a single bag as tight as she wants for the trip out and simply buy an inexpensive bag in Spain if she needs more space for the trip home.
S will be studying abroad next spring and I am planning to fly out to meet him at the end of the semester so we can sightsee together. The plan is that I will leave room in my suitcase or even bring a second bag if he has a lot of stuff to bring home.
Good ideas in this thread about buying a burner phone when they get there and having a second credit card. S has a Discover card and I don’t think that is widely accepted where he will be.
Definetly pack light. Clothes that can be layered and easy on the shoes! MY eldest went to England for 6 months on 2 suitcases. She bought what she needed there… which wasn’t much. I sent her a few things Amazon UK which was great. She came home with the same two suitcases and next semester, dumped half her stuff because she realized it hadn’t been easy to live without!
We opted to pay for the international plan on ATT. It was 60 bucks a month but unlimited texting which she used a lot. A small amount of data that helped in a crunch. Discounted minutes of talk for when she had to call a hotel or something. It was nice for her because it moved easily between the 10 countries she visited without changing her SIM card or interruption in service. Certinaly there are cheaper ways though.
My daughter went to Indonesia for study abroad last fall and took way to much stuff. My wife met her in Thailand and brought back a lot of her stuff, half way though her trip. She lived with locals during her stay. She liked it so much she took off spring term and back packed through Vietnam, Cambodia, Loas for an extra 2 months. She admits she had way too much stuff with a suitcase, and backpack.
She applied for the critical language program through the State Department and is currently back in Indonesia for an intensive again living with a local family.
This time… Well… Back to REI… They will take back her back pack she used for full refund up to 1 year and she got a larger 50 cu ft Osprey back pack. She has a smaller day pack and that’s it!!! She is there for 2 months. She can buy some extra clothes in the markets there (let your daughter know she’s going to want to go shopping there… Hint…) So less is more. Again my daughter traveled around even during her first semester in Indonesia but left the bulk of her stuff with her host family. Packing tip :my daughter used these plastic compressible bag things to really compress your clothes tight and fit more stuff. Got them on Amazon.
What’s app and messenger for free calls. T-mobile with free international but actually what’s app worked better for her. She got Sim cards at the airports when she landed. They are very cheap. Yes getting a cheap phone works. My daughter’s Samsung phone crashed on her and she picked up a iPhone 5 for cheap in Indonesia and it works great. She uses this when she was back also. She doesn’t like a lot of features on her phone. Data is usually cheap and using wireless is free so don’t pay large monthly bills either way.
All the above suggestions are great from others. We made her multiple copies of her passport etc so she would have copies incase something got lost plus a copy on her phone and clouded. We of course had copies. She is now with the state department so they actually have the passports etc.
She had to also get certain a medications to have with her incase she got typhoid fever etc. Of course she never got sick except for the initial transition from being in a different country… Imodium anyone… Lol…
Again less is more… She doesn’t need her entire closet. One nice pair of shoes if there are events that require that, or nice casual ones, gym shoes and sandals. Done! A week’s or two worth of underwear. She will have means to washer /"dryer correct. A few clothes that she can combine into different outfits that way only women can do… Ha…T-shirts and blouses. Etc. Read some blogs on traveling . They all agree… Less is more.
My daughter is so much happier taking less this time around.
Not that my kids would have been okay with this anyway…
My hubby is not Liam Neeson.